Fabulous Guest Bloggers Eric Willet and Katie Goff
Saturday July 4, 2005
After a surprisingly restful sleep, TIPsters arose bright eyed and bushy tailed to greet a new day to celebrate American independence. So eager to get some Uncle Sam, many awoke at an impossibly early hour of 10 o’clock. Interestingly, others didn’t. But that’s not exciting. So, those brave-hearted souls who did awake endeavoured to explore the metropolitan wilderness. Quite literally. Well, it was a small walk. A quaint one. Short and sweet. Oh wait, nopes. It lasted approximately three lifetimes. A short hop skip and a jump later we realized that our shoes had burned off our feet and our hair off our heads (our poor gingers). Luckily our fearless guides brought us back to the Ritz-Carlton with time to spare. Time to take a shower and streak through the hallways on the way to our next activity. Following a shocked Patricia, we jumped onto a tram to an exhilarating and action-packed picnic. Critics said “Wow…explosive” and “Nominated for 11 Academy Awards…won…many.” Eating countless hamburgers and hotdogs, we discovered many commonalities in American culture: standing in bike paths and speaking English, loudly. Some select members of the group suffered from lost modesty as they slid down the moon slide. We now know where MTV is filming its next Spring Break Special: International Sports Center, The Hague. The consulate was really happy about the selection criteria/process. Tired from the day’s events, the group trudged home and turned in early.
Oh.
Well.
Almost, until the party started hopping. Swarmed with 20-something European boys, the group bounced to visit the beach. The sandy beach. And the restaurants. (Note to parents: Word Associations is a good game. Really good. Take our word for it). (And). ( Would you rather. I.e.: Would you rather go to school and study lots and lots or go home and do your homework really really well?). (Never anything about hippopotami nor Dick Cheney). After returning from the beach stuffed full of sugary delights (Talia had five ice creams) the hostel descended into an eerie quiet, full of dormant TIPsters dreaming of ice cream and sugar plum fairies.
SUPERSTAR GUEST BLOGGERS Brooke Lawrence and Talia Glodjo
Sunday July 5, 2009
For some, 11:00pm is a time to get ready for bed, and have a goodnight’s sleep. For others, like the residents of Jorplace, Scheveningen Netherlands, the day had only just begun. As we were serenaded by the sounds, yells, and songs of the Jorplace party, TIPsters were tempted to join in the festivities by yelling out the window, but were simply too tired, and opted to sleep for as long as possible. After a long night of tossing, turning, and facebook chatting, we awoke early to pack our bags, clean up (Room one’s bathroom had certainly never looked better!) and cheerfully said goodbye to our Australian landlords, who looked a little worse for the wear. With the floors still sprinkled with cookie crumbs and choclate bars from some of the TIPsters late night snacking abilities (which created what we fondly like to call PB&J), we trekked to the tram stop where we began the adventure of AMSTERDAM!! On the tram Jess used her flawless dutch skills to talk us out of a 900 Euro fine for having an expired tram pass of 6 hours. Then we fondly walked into the central station where we waited to board the “fast train” to Amsterdam. On the train some of us slept while some of us pondered the journey to come. As we arrived in Amsterdam, passports in hand, bags trailing behind us (minus one purse left on the train, oops! Emily just can’t pack light enough…), we made the short journey from the station to our… wait for it…. HOTEL! It may have been the most beautiful thing we had ever seen. Complete with a lobby, cow statues, a concierge, an ELEVATOR, and (get this) our own bathrooms, we were convinced we had died on the fast train and gone to accommodations heaven. Only D-Frag’s room was ready however, so we piled our bags in and left the hotel for our excursion to downtown Amsterdam. After a tram ride, we took what was supposed to be a short walk to the Van Gogh Museum. After a hike almost as arduous as the one that nearly cooked our Gingers from the previous day, we arrived at the museum only to discover that we had no time to actually enter inside, and would have to continue walking to the Anne Frank House. The house was definitely worth the wait. Confronted with the realities of Anne’s day to day life, her original journal, and the attic were she whiled away countless hours, the group left sombre and deeply moved (Everyone but John however, who decided to treat us to another game of would you rather. For the record, Miley Cyrus should probably never be mentioned in the Anne Frank house.) Our band of travellers then divided into two groups, one to visit the Van Gogh museum and the other to visit the H&M a few blocks away. We were reunited after our respective tours with either quite a bit of new clothes, or a bag full of souvenirs for our families (Spoiler Alert: some grandparents can anticipate a new package of “A Starry Night” table napkins). After taking the final group pictures in from of the I Amsterdam sign,
we left for the “last supper” at the Hard Rock Café. D-Frag gave out the awards for outstanding achievement in many categories, such as “Best Word Association” (Jack), “Best Talent Show Performance” (Ben), “Best Bowler” (Jess), “Most Athletic Talent” (Morgan), and many more. We would like to award the “Best Instructor, and performance of Chiquita Banana” to Dave Frakt. After celebrating Kelsey’s 17th pre-brithday with round of ice cream and watching Roger Federer make tennis history, our group left the restaurant and walked back to the tram stop to return to our hotel. In the lobby, the goodbyes began when Jess had to leave to go back to Utrecht. We miss you already Jess! That night, we packed, we had ice wars, we had some spa time, we played cards, we stayed up late, and we said goodbye. As our lekker adventure in the Netherlands comes to a close, we want to thank all the students and staff of Duke TIP Hague for the trip of a lifetime. Have a safe trip home, and keep in touch (remember our instructors are Facebook accessible now)!
We houden van jou!
The last group photo at Schiphol Airport
A final farewell from Professor Frakt (aka Dfrag)
I want to thank all of the students for making my first experience as a TIP Instructor a truly memorable and joyous experience. You are an amazing group of young people. I have no doubt many of you will make an impact on the world. It was a privilege to get to know you and I hope you will keep in touch. Don't forget to send me your best photos to dfrakt@hotmail.com and I'll post them on the site on the Great Pix page!
Warm regards,
David